ami

Forms

Old forms: amy in the Jókai Codex, az mi (about 1456), ammi (1594).^[2]

Etymology

It is a compound, from Hungarian az (“that”) + mi (“what”): the demonstrative az “that” and the pronoun mi “what”.^[3][2][4][1] It arose in complex sentences: the indefinite pronoun, used as a relative, fused with the demonstrative of the main clause when the boundary between the clauses shifted.^[3][2][4]

The process began with subject clauses and spread to other kinds; aki, amely and amelyik arose the same way, and the relative adverbs such as amint and ahol followed on their model.^[3][2] TESz and ÚESz compare French lequel and Italian il quale.^[3][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in the Jókai Codex, copied about 1448 from a text written after 1372: ted a3t amy neked kel “do what you need”.^[3][2] The sense is the relative “what, that which”, referring to a thing.^[3][2]

Semantic evolution

Zaicz illustrates the fusion with Ez volt az, mit kértél? “Was that the thing you asked for?” becoming Ez volt, amit kértél “That was what you asked for”.^[4] The spelling az mi kept the old form long after the pronunciation had become ammi and then ami.^[3] In the 16th century it was still mostly written as two words, az mi or az mit, in charters and letters.^[5][6] From 1510 it is also found for amely “which”, referring to a named thing.^[3][2]

NSz records its uses from 1772 on: the relative “what”, a relative standing for a demonstrative in loose coordination (from 1777), “which” after a noun, and “as much as” (from 1774).^[7] The sense “as much as” is common in the dialects: Ami kis péze vót, mind elopták “what little money he had was all stolen” (Szeged).^[8][9]

Timeline

• c. 1448 – amy “what” in the Jókai Codex (copy of a text written after 1372).^[3][2]
• c. 1456 – az mi in the Sermones Dominicales.^[2]
• 1510 – “which”, of a named thing.^[3][2]
• 1523 – az myth in a letter.^[5]
• 1544 – az my in a Transylvanian record.^[6]
• 1594 – ammi, spelling the doubled consonant of the pronunciation.^[2]
• 1774 – “as much as”, in the NSz.^[7]

Meanings

Pronoun

1. what, that which (relative, referring to a thing, often answered by az in the main clause): Azt csinálom, ami tetszik.^[10][7][1]
2. which, that (after a noun or a pronoun of things; in careful style amely is preferred): Minden, ami itt van, a tiéd.^[10][7][1]
3. Which (referring to the whole of the preceding clause): Elkésett, ami nem szokása.^[10][7]
4. As much as, all that (ami … mind): Ami pénzem volt, elköltöttem.^[10][7][8]
5. ami azt illeti and similar phrases: as for, as far as … is concerned.^[10]

Related words

• mi
• az
• aki
• amely
• amelyik
• amint
• ahol

Usage notes

Ami and amely overlap: in the codices ami could stand for amely and the reverse.^[3][2] An unrelated dialect word ami “friend”, from French ami, is recorded in the 19th century.^[11][12]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Gerstner, Károly (ed.) (2006–), Új magyar etimológiai szótár, Budapest: Nyelvtudományi Kutatóközpont; online at uesz.nytud.hu
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Benkő, Loránd (ed.) (1967–1976), A magyar nyelv történeti-etimológiai szótára, 3 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 1, 87
4. ^ a b c Zaicz, Gábor (ed.) (2006), Etimológiai szótár: magyar szavak és toldalékok eredete, Budapest: Tinta Könyvkiadó
5. ^ a b Szamota, István; Zolnai, Gyula (1902–1906), Magyar oklevél-szótár, Budapest: Hornyánszky, p. 1123
6. ^ a b Szabó T., Attila (ed.) (1975–2014), Erdélyi magyar szótörténeti tár, 14 vols., Bukarest: Kriterion / Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó / Kolozsvár: Erdélyi Múzeum-Egyesület, p. 1, 309
7. ^ a b c d e f Ittzés, Nóra (ed.) (2006–), A magyar nyelv nagyszótára, Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó / Nyelvtudományi Kutatóközpont; online at nagyszotar.nytud.hu
8. ^ a b Bálint, Sándor (1957), Szegedi szótár, 2 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 1, 69
9. ^ Csűry, Bálint (1935–1936), Szamosháti szótár, 2 vols., Budapest: Magyar Nyelvtudományi Társaság, p. 1, 41
10. ^ a b c d e Bárczi, Géza; Országh, László (eds.) (1959–1962), A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára, 7 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó; online at ertelmezo.oszk.hu
11. ^ Herman, Ottó (1914), A magyar pásztorok nyelvkincse, Budapest: Királyi Magyar Természettudományi Társulat, p. 598
12. ^ Babos, Kálmán (1865), Közhasznú magyarázó szótár, Pest, p. 17